


In The Empty

by Lookey7



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fix-It, Fix-It of Sorts, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, One Shot, Team Free Will (Supernatural)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-19
Updated: 2020-11-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:06:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27624481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lookey7/pseuds/Lookey7
Summary: Castiel doesn't remember who he is. But he remembers a name, and he knows that he sacrificed himself for a good reason.
Relationships: Castiel & Dean Winchester, Castiel/Dean Winchester
Comments: 4
Kudos: 60





	In The Empty

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't watched Supernatural in years but I am still heavily invested in Destiel. I was browsing the Destiel tag on Tumblr, mentally bracing myself for the finale of a show I no longer watch, and this fic happened. 
> 
> What I've written is probably very untrue to canon, since I've never watched a single episode of Supernatural with the Empty in it, but just go with it. Cas and Dean deserve better!

He sits and sleeps and breathes in the nothing and repeats. It used to be hard, once. There used to be days when he'd claw at the nothing in fits of rage and desperation. He'd scream for the man who'd made him feel more than he ever could have imagined, the man who couldn't possibly come here, the man who was safer now without him.

Not anymore.

There's a rhythm to unlife that he has grown accustomed to. The pain has shrunk to a dull ache now. It still gnaws at his chest but he pays it no mind. It will never go away entirely, but he won't let it control him. He knew what he was getting into when he made his sacrifice. He tries not to let it get to him these days, if he can call them days.

Time is impossible here. There is no air, but the place feels stale somehow, as if he's stuck in stasis. It would suffocate him if he had oxygen. In his darker moments, he wonders if he'd prefer suffocation to the unending nothing, but it doesn't matter. This was the only way to protect Dean and he'd make the same choice a thousand times over.

Dean. He doesn't remember his own name, but he remembers Dean. He's long since forgotten what the man looks like, yet the name digs into his heart like an arrow. He did this for Dean, so it had to have been worth it. Dean is safe now.

Castiel lies down in the Empty and closes his eyes. He doesn't need to sleep in a place like this, but it's a way to pass the untime.

***

"Cas?"

Castiel cracks open an eyelid and wonders if he's finally gone mad. Someone else is here. A man. He is very tall and has shaggy, almost dog-like hair.

Perhaps Castiel is hallucinating. He's pretty certain that no one else can come here, and that no one in their right mind would have hair like that. Maybe his hallucination is also mad.

"Yes?" he says, surprised by how quickly he answers to the unfamiliar name.

"Holy shit, Cas!"

A second man with far more agreeable hair barrels past the dog-haired man directly towards him. Castiel privately notes that perhaps Cas is his own name, when the stranger draws him into a tight embrace.

Time does not pass here, but the dog-haired man still clears his throat after _something_ has passed; Castiel is not sure what exactly, but he doesn't care. It's nice to feel warmth again.

The stranger partially releases him, leaving one hand on Castiel's shoulder. He doesn't step away. He's smiling; there are tears in his eyes, and Castiel takes the opportunity to admire the freckles on the stranger's face. They remind him of something, a constellation perhaps.

"Don't ever do that to me again, okay?"

Castiel nods without knowing why.

The dog-haired man speaks. He says something about a spell and portals and how they need to be fast, but Castiel only hears one word.

As if on command, the pain rises up to choke him. The arrow at his heart drives through his chest and Castiel has never felt happier.

"Hello, Dean."


End file.
